Message in His Eyes
by FlamingWolf
Summary: Milliardo finds some sketches in his wife's desk.


Message in His Eyes  
  
By: Night Star  
  
  
  
"That report Lieutenant Barton sent is in the top drawer of my desk!" Itelia called in response to Milliardo's knock at the bathroom door. He chuckled, opened the door a crack, and called over the noise of the shower,  
  
"That's what I get for marrying a Scorpio: A psychic wife who I can't argue with over losing important documents."  
  
The shower shut off and a hand reached through the curtain to grab a towel. Itelia stepped out wrapped in aforesaid towel and looked questioningly at her husband, who laughed softly.  
  
"I didn't have a chance to ask you where the report was before you were hollering the answer to my query. Also, you have yet to lose any paperwork, while I--" He waved vaguely in the direction of his office. Itelia stuck out her tongue smugly at him and brushed by him to go into the bedroom and shut the door.  
  
Going into her study, he started to reach for the drawer handle to the desk, when an unmarked folder on top of the desk attracted his attention. As she always labeled everything, he flipped it open, then stopped in surprise.  
  
There was a designation on the folder after all, reading "G. Pilots, AC 195". Lying on top was a piece of parchment with two sketches on it, both of the 02 pilot, Duo Maxwell. Both showed the "junkman" leaning against a brick wall. However, the stances were a study in opposites. Maxwell stood confident with his usual mischievous expression in the first; on the other side of the page slumped a defeated, grieved warrior, eyes closed, a single tear on the sober face.  
  
Milliardo sank into the chair. Humorlessly, he thought,  
  
"So, Duo, you , like the rest of us, have two natures also."  
  
Quickly, he turned the page, only to be confronted with his own sister's image. Relena stared downward, eyes filled with loneliness and pain, drawn so realistically Milliardo felt a wave of shame as he thought,  
  
"I only ever talk to her when she calls me, and half of the time, I have some excuse to cut the conversation short."  
  
Wondering what else he didn't know about these people who ruled his life, Milliardo looked deeper into the portfolio.  
  
Itelia had an innate talent for reading the depths of human souls and emotions, then taking that knowledge and pouring it out into the eyes of a paper and pencil creation. Quatre's love of friends and hatred of war, Trowa's inner hells and longing for family, and Wufei's hidden desire for peace were thrown into Milliardo's consciousness in the space of six illustrations. Through all of these, three caught his attention and held it.  
  
The first was the only one with a title: "First View of Wing." Heero stared up at the giant Suit, his face as blank as ever, but with a fierce determination glowing in his eyes. For the first time since opening the folder, Milliardo smiled.  
  
But his face fell grim as he picked up the one beneath it. in it, he and Noin were bent over a piece of paper, and Itelia stood in the doorway, her face resigned, nut her eyes shone with tears of despairing adoration; her hand reached toward him in mute imploring.  
  
"Oh, God, she thinks I'm still in love with Noin!" He thought in horror. Aloud, he whispered hoarsely,  
  
"Itelia, love, I'm sorry."  
  
Hurriedly, he picked up the final page.  
  
Heero stood, again gazing upward, but this time he was staring at Relena's form on the Transmission Board, downtown Tokyo. His hands were clenched at his sides, face stony, but his eyes held an expression of anguished loss. Milliardo recognized the incident on the T-Board as when Relena's engagement to the Duke had been announced.  
  
"I know damn well that the Duke arranged that as a political marriage and that Relena's advisors bullied her into it, but Heero may think she does care for him." Milliardo mused. He was interrupted by Itelia's quick, light step in the hall. Rapidly, Milliardo pulled the report out of the desk and returned to his office, after putting the folder back as it had been.  
  
In his own office, he tried to concentrate, but Relena's lonely eyes, Itelia's despairing ones, and Heero's expression of loss haunted him. Finally, he threw down the report and picked up the phone.  
  
"Relena? How've you been, little sis?"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Relena sighed happily much later, putting down the receiver, but the sigh turned sad as her attention was drawn to the teddy bear on the corner of her desk. She picked it up and kissed the top of its head, whispering softly,  
  
"I'm sorry, my Heero."  
  
The phone rang again. Answering it, he heard a vaguely familiar but strangely accented voice say,  
  
"Heero loves you. Go to him."  
  
Immediately, the mysterious caller hung up. Relena replaced the receiver in perplexity, but after a short meditation picked it back up and dialed a once-familiar number.  
  
"Heero? Will you join me at The Century for a cup of coffee this evening?"  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
  
Blearily, Itelia put her book on the bedside table. Glancing at the clock, she thought,  
  
Milliardo must be "working" late with Noin again.  
  
She reached over to turn out the light and found her wrist caught in a gentle grip. She looked up to see Milliardo leaning over her. He tenderly kissed her and murmured,  
  
"I love you."  
  
She stared at him for a moment and felt tears of joy rising as she replied,  
  
"I know. I can see it in your eyes." 


End file.
